I love all my friends, everybody is my friend...I give them more spells to cast so we can all have more fun, and I give them happy lives so we can all keep playing our fun games longer.
I also give them my little babies. I say "Here are my babies, you can play with them and they will fill your heart with joy."
But now my friends aren't being nice. They hurt my babies, and my lands have been destroyed by white magic so I can't make any more babies, and that makes me sad. Because it gives me so many smiles to see my little babies running across the battlefield.
They also are using those cards I gave them to hurt me and my other friends. They take those spells and use them to cast more spells, and hog all the playtime by combining bad spells together, so we don't get to play, only they get to play. And I think that's not fair and that makes me sad.
Also when I give them lives they just take the lives away from each other and hurt each other and even me, even though I was nice and just wanted everyone to have lots of life and have fun and play games for a long time. This really makes me sad.
Now they're attacking me, wow it hurts. I don't know what's going on, I thought we were all friends playing a game. Oh, they destroyed my Howling Mine...Sheldon, tell them I just want to be buddies and I love them. I don't get why they don't love me. What did I do wrong?? I promise to be a good hippo, please just stop...don't let them do this to me Sheldon....
In my opinion, this deck will want a faster way to finish out the game, other than the Curiosity/Ophidian Eye combo. I recommend putting Heartless Hidetsugu in. He's great with the Collar or the card draw enchantments. In fact, Quietus Spike fills the dual roles of being deathtouchy and helping you close out a game where you have control over the board. Another card that would quadruple your normal clock is Grafted Exoskeleton. I've had a Mizzy deck before (more Wizard tribal than yours), and I found these cards won a lot of games without putting you at a political disadvantage like the less bounded Curiosity combo does.
I've been told a few times that the deck is too dolor-heavy, but I've tried cutting one of the tenses and it's just too painful. So it goes. The only rare is Consectetur, which you can easily swap for another card you want to have in there.
You can also run this with Caesar as the general but that's too obvious, besides I'm tired of losing to my own cards.
I would like there to be a very short banlist, compiled mostly on card price/availability (Moxen, Lotus, egregiously expensive auto-include type cards) to avoid dividing players into 'have power' and 'don't have power.'
Paired with this banlist, I would like there to be a comprehensive statement on the philosophy of EDH, a statement that communicates the flavor and spirit of the format that the RC envisions. Players are free to either agree or disagree with this vision, and can implement parts of the RC's philosophy without implementing other parts. Third parties can contribute their own views, and the collective thought process begins.
I think the right move is to let playgroups decide what's right for them when it comes to house rules, banlists, and social deck construction. Commander players should take responsibility for their games, and have discussions about how to make things more fun if the situation is not satisfactory. The Ruling Council, rather than exercising authority over taste, ought to be composed of those who think deeply on casual issues and are articulate in expressing those thoughts. If their arguments are convincing, people will implement them.
While an official banlist based on taste (even refined, highly considered tastes) brings strangers together to play EDH and normalizes expectations, there are alternatives which preserve the individuality of playgroups more effectively. Two players who meet can identify themselves as enjoying, for example, "Armada-type games," "battle-cruiser Commander," or "Type 1 with Generals." Casual Writers and the RC would do their part to give us a working vocabulary that would describe these philosophical fragments within the variant format known as Commander.
Ultimately, I don't believe players should be subject to external pressures (like official banlists) to stop them from using so-called "anti-social" cards. These issues should be worked out in words, not solved by an appeal to authority. Without the practical restrictions of tournament Magic, Casual players should understand that they are free to do anything, redefine any rule or restriction, as long as the manner in which they do it is sociable, reasonable, and compassionate to their fellow gamers.
The only nonlegendary creature I decided to put in was Anger, for hasty activations, although I guess there's Urabrask now. Survival of the Fittest made it in too.
Unfortunately, that strategy has some dissynergy with a card I think is one of the strongest puzzle pieces in the Legends deck: Kira, Great Glass Spinner
Good luck!
Edit: Also, Time of Need probably needs to get in there no matter the mechanical theme.
I love all my friends, everybody is my friend...I give them more spells to cast so we can all have more fun, and I give them happy lives so we can all keep playing our fun games longer.
I also give them my little babies. I say "Here are my babies, you can play with them and they will fill your heart with joy."
But now my friends aren't being nice. They hurt my babies, and my lands have been destroyed by white magic so I can't make any more babies, and that makes me sad. Because it gives me so many smiles to see my little babies running across the battlefield.
They also are using those cards I gave them to hurt me and my other friends. They take those spells and use them to cast more spells, and hog all the playtime by combining bad spells together, so we don't get to play, only they get to play. And I think that's not fair and that makes me sad.
Also when I give them lives they just take the lives away from each other and hurt each other and even me, even though I was nice and just wanted everyone to have lots of life and have fun and play games for a long time. This really makes me sad.
Now they're attacking me, wow it hurts. I don't know what's going on, I thought we were all friends playing a game. Oh, they destroyed my Howling Mine...Sheldon, tell them I just want to be buddies and I love them. I don't get why they don't love me. What did I do wrong?? I promise to be a good hippo, please just stop...don't let them do this to me Sheldon....
...
Sheldon?
Ha! Yes, Foglio really nailed that one.. It is also a good excuse to teach the proper pronunciation of 'Conch' to your playgroup.
PS: Also plays well with Sun Titan (probably in any Mayael deck).
So good.
In my opinion, this deck will want a faster way to finish out the game, other than the Curiosity/Ophidian Eye combo. I recommend putting Heartless Hidetsugu in. He's great with the Collar or the card draw enchantments. In fact, Quietus Spike fills the dual roles of being deathtouchy and helping you close out a game where you have control over the board. Another card that would quadruple your normal clock is Grafted Exoskeleton. I've had a Mizzy deck before (more Wizard tribal than yours), and I found these cards won a lot of games without putting you at a political disadvantage like the less bounded Curiosity combo does.
I've been told a few times that the deck is too dolor-heavy, but I've tried cutting one of the tenses and it's just too painful. So it goes. The only rare is Consectetur, which you can easily swap for another card you want to have in there.
You can also run this with Caesar as the general but that's too obvious, besides I'm tired of losing to my own cards.
Training Grounds can really accelerate Jhoira, letting you do many suspends per turn.
Savor the Moment should probably be in there too, just to take a few more time counters off.
Paired with this banlist, I would like there to be a comprehensive statement on the philosophy of EDH, a statement that communicates the flavor and spirit of the format that the RC envisions. Players are free to either agree or disagree with this vision, and can implement parts of the RC's philosophy without implementing other parts. Third parties can contribute their own views, and the collective thought process begins.
I think the right move is to let playgroups decide what's right for them when it comes to house rules, banlists, and social deck construction. Commander players should take responsibility for their games, and have discussions about how to make things more fun if the situation is not satisfactory. The Ruling Council, rather than exercising authority over taste, ought to be composed of those who think deeply on casual issues and are articulate in expressing those thoughts. If their arguments are convincing, people will implement them.
While an official banlist based on taste (even refined, highly considered tastes) brings strangers together to play EDH and normalizes expectations, there are alternatives which preserve the individuality of playgroups more effectively. Two players who meet can identify themselves as enjoying, for example, "Armada-type games," "battle-cruiser Commander," or "Type 1 with Generals." Casual Writers and the RC would do their part to give us a working vocabulary that would describe these philosophical fragments within the variant format known as Commander.
Ultimately, I don't believe players should be subject to external pressures (like official banlists) to stop them from using so-called "anti-social" cards. These issues should be worked out in words, not solved by an appeal to authority. Without the practical restrictions of tournament Magic, Casual players should understand that they are free to do anything, redefine any rule or restriction, as long as the manner in which they do it is sociable, reasonable, and compassionate to their fellow gamers.
Other suggestions: Vendilion Clique (bounce general, bottom it, peek at hand), Riptide Laboratory (V-Clique = Wizard), Kira, Great Glass Spinner.
The only nonlegendary creature I decided to put in was Anger, for hasty activations, although I guess there's Urabrask now. Survival of the Fittest made it in too.
Unfortunately, that strategy has some dissynergy with a card I think is one of the strongest puzzle pieces in the Legends deck: Kira, Great Glass Spinner
Good luck!
Edit: Also, Time of Need probably needs to get in there no matter the mechanical theme.